Speculation vs Experience Pt #2, Actual issue identified.

Builders,

The previous story, Internet speculation vs First hand experience….. . , covered how people on the internet were quick to post the most ominous predictions about Alan Laudani’s 3,000cc Corvair, which none of them had seen, nor bothered to understand had been given a full break-in run on my test stand at Corvair College #38, and had previously run perfectly. I dislike our national obsession with offering dire, ominous diagnosis’s on things people have no first hand knowledge of. In Corvairs, I find this annoying because it is commonly done on the internet in a forum where the posters know I have been blocked from directly responding. It is their version of a “Safe Space” where the person with the first hand experience can’t show up and interrupt their cyber-reality commentary.

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Here is how the ‘problem’ is actually solved: Two people, Alan and myself, decided that resolving the issue was more important than being offended or pushing a pet internet theory. From the first story, it is obvious that I was ticked off, and I used language than anyone with a sensitive ego could use as a justification for permanently putting on an attitude of being ‘offended’ (which of course today leads to a ‘demand for an apology and a call for them to be fired ) I had met and worked with Alan at Corvair College #23 here in Florida, and at #38 in California, and he isn’t that kind of person. He picked up the phone because priority one to him was finding out what was causing the substandard operation on his installed engine, when it had run fine on my test stand. Likewise, I knew that none of the comments offered on the net were correct, so I had an interest in resolving this directly. Although I have a sharp tongue at times, I actually have pretty thick skin and get over things that tick me off at a moment. If I have a redeeming feature it is being aware that a person with my social failings looks stupid being critical of anyone driven by good intentions.

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Above, in my hand I hold my own MA3-SPA carb. In my previous story I referenced this warning Safety Alert: Excessively Rich MA3-SPA Jetting. I had to issue this alert because two people quietly acting on their own and without my knowledge, convinced the primary supplier of rebuilt carbs to Corvair builders, to rebuild them to run ridiculously rich. All anyone with a Corvair needs to know about these carbs is that Dan Weseman and Myself, long ago proved in several hundred test runs, on professional professional dyno runs and in our own aircraft over the last 15 years, every Corvair from 2,700 – 3,300cc should be run with completely stock jetting, the same as an O-200.

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Several years ago, the rebuilder sent out more than 30 carbs where were radically rich. We have the serial numbers in the Safety Alert, but not all of the carbs have yet been returned for correction. Guess what, when Alan and I spent an hour on the phone, we discovered by checking the list of affected carbs, he has one of them on his plane. Smoking gun identified. My test stand has a completely stock MA3-SPA on it, and with it Alan’s engine ran perfectly. On his plane he installed the super rich carb and it ran poorly and actually fouled the plugs. In checking the installation he found his timing slightly retarded, but that is a non-issue compared to the carb being 30% too rich.

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To originally discover the altered carbs in the field, it took Dan Weseman and I several months of speaking with builders on the phone to piece together that something was foul. When this was tracked down, the two individuals responsible, who remain unapologetic, should have become Persona non Grata in Corvairs, for the grief and damage to the reputation of Corvairs they caused. But in cyberville what they did was A-OK, and they are both regulars on the Corvaircraft discussion group, the location where Alan received the incorrect speculation on his issue. However having first hand experience with several hundred Corvairs is a crime in cyberville, and for it I am banned from writing to, or reading the archives of the same discussion group. Consider that when contemplating sources of information. And the final irony? One of the people on the net who offered speculation to Alan is one of the two culprits on the carb issue.

“It is a free world, and you can use any carb you like on your Corvair. Physics, Chemistry and Gravity also think it is a free world, and they fully support your right to make a poor choice, even one that will harm you if it doesn’t work within their system of laws. If you wanted to run a German motorcycle carb, don’t be mad at me if it doesn’t work. I didn’t make up the laws of the physical world. I am just the messenger here to remind people that Physics, Chemistry and Gravity are great allies if you play by their rules. They are also absolutely remorseless in dealing with people who feel like the rules don’t apply to them. Be advised, if they find you guilty, the penalty phase of the system moves much faster than our criminal courts, and does not have an appeals system.”

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Wewjr

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About William WynneI have been continuously building, testing and flying Corvair engines since 1989. Information, parts and components that we developed and tested are now flying on several hundred Corvair powered aircraft. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Professional Aeronautics and an A&P license from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and have a proven 20 year track record of effectively teaching homebuilders how to create and fly their own Corvair powered planes. Much of this is chronicled at www.FlyCorvair.com and in more than 50 magazine articles.

I have just completed CH750 transitional training at Buzz air. On the first day there I mentioned I had installed a Corvair in my Cruzer. The very obvious smirk from both instructors put me off the whole day. Apparently, they only believe in the 0-200. I guess they only heard bad things about the Corvair such as has been happening with the current drama. Little did they know I have had 5 solid years of Corvair dependability in my Merlin. I did’t bother to argue with them about it or try to enlighten them.

If people who use this engine would only follow WW and Dan’s proven parts and methods maybe the negative stigma would disappear.

If anyone reading this is planning training at Buzz, don’t be put off by what they perceive about the Corvair. They provide excellent training but are ignorant about a proper Corvair conversion.

Though I too have test run my own 3.0L Corvair Flight Engine (that I finished at CC#41), my Sonex air frame is still far from ready for installation at this point in my build. Still, this MA3-SPA jetting story resonates with me for two reasons: 1) I fully intend to learn from this so that this same thing doesn’t happen to ME when the time comes, but 2) it also makes me think back to a guy I worked with many years ago named Ron Tyson, a real character who loved getting people upset just for fun (ESPECIALLY someone who might seem easily upset). Similar in some ways to a practical joker, Ron would deliberately start an argument, then argue the exact opposite view held by his victim, just to get the guy angry and worked up. Ron would do this even if he secretly agreed with that person’s viewpoint. It makes me wonder if there might not be similarly evil people like Ron Tyson out in experimental aviation today, people who find great fun in systematically screwing up Corvair-bound MA3-SPA carburetors and giving known bad advice on the internet just to cause trouble, especially trouble for William Wynne.
(A fool’s game to be sure, but our world seems over stocked with fools these days.)

Yeah… at least the Troll from the old children’s story, Three Billy Goats Gruff, was content with preventing the goats in the story from crossing over that one bridge that the Troll lived under. Today’s trolls seem to want to sabotage every tried and tested good idea coming down the pike, even when they themselves haven’t been inconvenienced by them in any way whatsoever. Not even the TBGG Troll was that evil, so I sometimes wonder if “troll” is a strong enough name for them.